81
The Founding of /Jtlission Nuestra Seiiora del Refugio
and as many beeves for a year. He suggested as a remedy that one thousand head of cattle be secured at once. These could be bought for four thousand pesos. The Indians could learn to tend them, and while obtaining their meat supply, they could at the same time build up a herd that would make them self-supporting after the first year. He pointed out that hunger does not wait. Food was more important for the success of the mission than the church, buildings, ornaments, and sacred vestments. The Indians could live in temporary shelters, services could be held under a tree, but all the natives had to be fed each day. 33 On March 12, the governor personally took a train of such supplies as he could spare, and a guard of fourteen men from San Antonio, under Sergeant Mariano Rodriguez, to help Fathers Garza and Velasco. 3 ' Instructions given to Rod1·igttez. The soldiers were not to be employed in hunting to supply meat except in case of extreme necessity. In that case they were to accompany the Indians designated by the missionary. They were not to take the wild cattle on the lands of Mission Espiritu Santo. The first duty of Rodriguez and his men, however, was to con- struct a strong stockade and build a c/eamacttero (cow pen). They were to assist in the construction and repair of the church and the Patit-e's house. The quarters for the mission guard were to be erected on the location designated by the missionary. Intimacy with the Indians was to be avoided and the highest moral conduct observed. The soldiers were to attend prayers daily in order to set a good example to the Indians, but a mounted sentinel was always to be left at the door of the church to guard against surprise attacks. Likewise, a mounted guard should be maintained at headquarters. Two horses were to be kept saddled at all times for any emergency. Rodriguez was further instructed not to send messengers to San Antonio, but to communicate with the governor through the commander at Espiritu Santo. 35 Early trials and tribulations. A diary kept by Rodriguez during his stay at Refugio gives an intimate view of life at the new mission during its first three months. Governor Munoz who had brought the guard and the supplies, left on March I 5, after seeing work on the stockade he gun two days before. The day after the governor departed, twenty-three
3 3 Father Garza to Munoz, February :24, 1793. Bexar Archives. 34 Mufioz to the Viceroy, March I 2, 1793. Bb:ar Arcl,ives.
35 Ynstruccion y Orden a qe. se deve arreglar el Sargento Mariano Rodriguez en esta Nueba Mision de Ntra. Senora del Refugio, con los catorce hombres de Tropa de la Rl. Compafiia de Sn. Antonio de Bexar. Bexar Arcllives.
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